| light.m4a |
What monsters the world will have us seem
when youths scatter their cares like confetti into the night, like
fireflies and their light, like
cells of constellations that give back in the dark our eyes
and have violence pollute the sky
make big cities out of heaven
and angels out of stargazers;
make stars out of human life
Too soon
their last dance em-dashed into fragment by impolite bullets
that might otherwise find worse-loved surfaces
like paper targets or air
Not my sisters and brothers
so fierce and queer
so big in their defiance of smotherance
of quietness
of disappearance
even when the world wants them gone
Dear Orlando, dear children, dear those who
work too much and are paid too little,
this is for you
& all the confused grieving of those who
just want to make it home each night
Your light will not be forgotten
Let us make whispers of these monsters
that throw human shapes against walls
Chase them into fiction with fireworks on our tongues and
patience that could only mean loving
Even if it is not what we deserve
loving is perhaps what will save the world
Let us speak the names of our people
dripping their footprints across the sky
Mistake them for airplanes, shooting stars,
but never mistakes
such wonder could never be by accident
Make love the motive,
not the end to which you fight on
So raise the torches in your throat
and show the way to morning
Tomorrow, we light a better day
when youths scatter their cares like confetti into the night, like
fireflies and their light, like
cells of constellations that give back in the dark our eyes
and have violence pollute the sky
make big cities out of heaven
and angels out of stargazers;
make stars out of human life
Too soon
their last dance em-dashed into fragment by impolite bullets
that might otherwise find worse-loved surfaces
like paper targets or air
Not my sisters and brothers
so fierce and queer
so big in their defiance of smotherance
of quietness
of disappearance
even when the world wants them gone
Dear Orlando, dear children, dear those who
work too much and are paid too little,
this is for you
& all the confused grieving of those who
just want to make it home each night
Your light will not be forgotten
Let us make whispers of these monsters
that throw human shapes against walls
Chase them into fiction with fireworks on our tongues and
patience that could only mean loving
Even if it is not what we deserve
loving is perhaps what will save the world
Let us speak the names of our people
dripping their footprints across the sky
Mistake them for airplanes, shooting stars,
but never mistakes
such wonder could never be by accident
Make love the motive,
not the end to which you fight on
So raise the torches in your throat
and show the way to morning
Tomorrow, we light a better day